Please take a few minutes to help save the lives of over 40 Canadian children, men and women illegally detained in Syria (see sample letter/call below). Already held under conditions akin to torture, these children, women and men are now subject to illegal Turkish bombings and drone strikes that further threaten their lives. As Canada shockingly heads to court next month to prevent their return – even using a secret hearing to stop repatriation – our voices must be raised loud and clear: arbitrary detention and torture are always wrong. Forced exile is illegal and violates the Canadian Bill of Rights (under which the government is forbidden to "authorize or effect the arbitrary detention, imprisonment or exile of any person”) and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, whose Section 6 is described by Canada’s own Justice Department thusly: “Its central purpose is to prevent exile and banishment." Bring everyone home NOW!

SAMPLE LETTER AND CALL

(Feel free to personalize with your own statement imagining what it would be like to know your loved ones are condemned to these brutal camps and prisons and the Canadian government is refusing to lift a finger for them. Use a creative subject line as well that does not make your email look like it is computer-generated!)

ALSO add in your MP if not already included below!

To: Melanie.Joly@parl.gc.ca

CC: Stephane.Bergeron@parl.gc.ca, pam.damoff@parl.gc.ca, rob.oliphant@parl.gc.ca, Rachel.Bendayan@parl.gc.ca, Matthew Behrens <tasc@web.ca>, Heather.McPherson@parl.gc.ca, alistair.macgregor@parl.gc.ca, Randeep.Sarai@parl.gc.ca, Chandra.Arya@parl.gc.ca, Peter.Schiefke@parl.gc.ca, Kamal.Khera@parl.gc.ca, Salma.Zahid@parl.gc.ca, Iqra.khalid@parl.gc.ca, Joel.Lightbound@parl.gc.ca, Ruby.Sahota@parl.gc.ca, Majid.Jowhari@parl.gc.ca, Elizabeth.May@parl.gc.ca, pm@pm.gc.ca, Marco.Mendicino@parl.gc.ca, ps.ministerofpublicsafety-ministredelasecuritepublique.sp@canada.ca, Melanie.Joly@international.gc.ca

Dear Mélanie Joly, 

The lives of more than 40 Canadians illegally detained in northeastern Syria, always at risk, are in even more danger now that Turkey is illegally bombing northern Syria and Rojava, knocking out all power (just as the Russians are doing in Ukraine). While you have rightfully condemned Russian war crimes, you must speak up to end Turkey's equally criminal actions.

In the meantime, you must drop your opposition to the repatriation of the 40+ Canadian men, women and kids still detained under appalling conditions, most recently documented by Médecins Sans Frontières (https://www.msf.org/generation-lost-danger-and-desperation-syria%E2%80%99s-al-hol-camp and Human Rights Watch.

These Canadians remain arbitrarily detained in NE Syria largely because Global Affairs Canada refuses to take the necessary steps to bring them home. While four women and children were repatriated at the end of October, the remainder are stuck under appalling conditions akin to torture. Even worse, you are taking their families to court on December 5 and 6 to fight against their repatriation, with  a secret hearing on December 9. 

In January 2022, the International Committee of the Red Cross declared: “States must repatriate their own citizens. Not just children. Children, women and men.” At the same time, Dr. Abdulkarim Omar, co-chair of the Kurdish administration’s foreign office in Northeast Syria, reiterated what they have been saying for years: “Every country should take its citizens back.”  On January 31, 2022, the US State Department called on its partners to “urgently repatriate their nationals and other detainees remaining in northeast Syria.”

Closer to home, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development also recommended repatriation in June 2021.

How can the government of Canada, which played a lead role in drafting and signing a global pact on ending arbitrary detention, refuse to take immediate action to end the arbitrary detention of Canadian men, women and children enduring conditions that the United Nations has described as meeting the “threshold for torture, cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment under international law”?

Your mandate letter mentions ending arbitrary detention four times!  

Forced exile is illegal and violates the Canadian Bill of Rights (under which the government is forbidden to "authorize or effect the arbitrary detention, imprisonment or exile of any person”) and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, whose Section 6 is described by Canada’s own Justice Department thusly: “Its central purpose is to prevent exile and banishment."

I support the repatriation of these (at least) 8 Canadian men, 11 Canadian women and 21 Canadian children. They must be brought home immediately. 

Sincerely, 

NAME, ADDRESS

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Sample Call

Mélanie Joly
613-992-0983 (Ottawa office)
514-383-3709 (Montreal office)
You may or may not get an answering machine (if you do, please leave a message).

Hi, my name is XXXXXXXX and I'm calling from XXXXXXX. I find it unbelievable and cruel that the Canadian government has done nothing to free and bring home over 40 of its Muslim citizens illegally detained in northeastern Syria by a Canadian ally. The United Nations describes their conditions as akin to torture. The detainees’ captors, human rights groups, the United Nations, a Parliamentary committee, the US State Department, and the Red Cross have all called for their repatriation. Dozens of countries that recognize it is wrong to perpetuate the arbitrary detention of their citizens have intervened to bring them home with no problems whatsoever. I expect Canada to do the same. In addition, you need to speak out against the Turkish bombing of northeastern Syria, which further threatens the lives of the Canadians and all people living there. I am calling on Minister Joly to stop putting barriers in their way and assist them in coming home immediately. Thank you.